This factor varies among markets and among investors but is sufficiently frequently cited to merit discus-sion here. Typically, infrastructure projects funded in the capital markets have been structured to achieve a minimum rating of investment grade rating as required by the monolines. This low investment grade rating is not acceptable without credit enhancement to a large number of investors who require fund managers to adhere to a minimum rating standard of single-A. By contrast, most bank-funded projects, although not explicitly rated, would probably be rated below investment grade. The gap between the bank credit risk standard and the capital market investor standard could be bridged in a number of ways: letters of credit and high performance bonding to mitigate construction risk, higher coverage ratios to mitigate operating risk, and lower leverage to create a greater capital cushion to absorb losses before the senior debt is af-fected. All of these would result in increased costs and research is necessary to determine if the benefits of increased funding competition would be adequate to offset these costs.